"If You're the Smartest Person in the Room..."

There’s a saying I really like—you’ve probably heard it before:
“If you’re the smartest person in the room, then you’re in the wrong room.”

I’m not sure who originally said it, but the first time I heard it, it stuck with me. It's a reminder to continuously push myself and never let my ego stop me from growing.

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Looking Back

At my previous company, while I definitely wasn’t the smartest person in the room when it came to software development, I wasn’t the least capable either. I’d say I was closer to the top than the bottom.

It was a very small startup. The engineering team consisted of two mid-level devs, one senior dev, and a handful of junior devs who came out of the company’s apprenticeship program. That’s where I came from.

And while I was “just” a junior dev, I’ll give myself some credit—I was probably one of the best junior devs they had produced up to that point (who was still with the company). I took pride in that. But I won’t lie—it gave me a false sense of security, and I let off the gas.

I stopped working on side projects. I wasn’t learning anything new outside of work. Looking back, I’m disappointed in myself. That’s not the kind of developer I want to be.

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Fast Forward

This week hit me like a ton of bricks—in the best way possible.

At my new company, the engineering department is made up of two senior developers, both with nearly two decades of experience, and… me. It’s now painfully obvious that I am no longer the smartest person in the room—and honestly, it’s not even close.

Between learning an entirely new system and becoming proficient in a new programming language, I find myself in every meeting jotting down new topics, technologies, and best practices I need to research.

And I couldn’t be happier.
This is exactly why I fell in love with this field.

The constant push to improve is what fueled me in my previous career in the military, and now I’ve found that same fire in tech. I’m soaking up everything I can like a sponge, and while imposter syndrome is definitely peeking its head out, it’s not as overwhelming as I expected.

In fact, I think it’s helping.
It’s keeping me sharp, humble, and hungry.

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Wrapping Up

All in all, it’s been a great second week at the new job.

I’m hoping to wrap up onboarding soon so I can start tackling real tasks and show the team what I’m capable of. I’m excited to grow, to learn, and to get better.

Thanks for reading—looking forward to updating all four of you again next week 😂

See you in the next one!